My bike came with the MT90B 16. I want to put the newer RK tire on it. Has anybody done this? I know the new MU85 is 3/10" wider (divide that in half for each side). Will it fit?
Gary

 

Yes, it will fit...

Only thing that you MIGHT have to do is remove the wiper off of the belt guard......

 

Yea, what he said. The wiper will rub the tire. It doesn't hurt it, it just messes up the white wall.

 

Does the"wiper" serve a real purpose Shovelhead? I mean, if it provides protection for the belt or something really beneficial, I probably wouldn't remove it.
Gary

 

Yes it will fit and you will love it!

I have an 03 RoadKing with the newer MU85B tire, all I did was trim the guard (the front half) and install this $35 spacer.
http://www.pingelonline.com/rear_sprocket_spacer.htm

Tire looks great and bike runs fine!

Here is a sticky from another forum about all of this.

http://www.*****************/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66062

 

Lilarlen,
Tried to click on your link below http://www.****/forums/showthread.php?t=66062
doesnt' work (probably cause of the ***, which may be due to need for security to enter that particular forum).
Any other way I can get to that link/info?

Im I correct in understanding that if you get the spacer you recommend, then you DON"T have to trim or remove the wiper on the belt guard? I have an '02 road king.
Thanks!

 

craigcap,

I sent you an email about all of this, look for that.

 

While we are back on this subject, I took the, print out, of the spacer to my mechanic and he said, "If you move the rear pulley, then you have to do something with the front pulley". I wonder.......
Gary

 

Hello Gary,

Good question.

If the dealership I work with is correct, the front stayed the same even with the new rear tire. In 2004 when HD switched to the newer bigger rear tire. all HD did was replace the back with a smaller (and HD says stronger) belt, change the rear pulley and change the rear fender some. (the lip on the inside). Now I am not HD nor a dealer so I can not tell you if that is correct or not… I can tell you that all the spacer does is just move things over some so everything fits again when you install the bigger rear tire.

Note: When I switched to the bigger rear tire my bike had 45k miles on it and the dealership told me that the current belt had worn a spot on the front where it rotated all the time and I might feel that until a new wear spot had been broken in.

But I have to admit that using the spacer is not the only method to install the new MU85B rear tire and if someone is not comfortable with using it I would say don't.

I know of some people that switch everything over… front and back on pre 2004 bikes to get the new MU85B tire installed. Some others have just installed the tire and trimmed the front of the guard to get things to work. (no spacer) You can pick what you like/ want.

Here are the specs on the two tires:

The specs for D402 (MT90B16) rear tire, pre 2004:
Overall Diameter: 25.70
Width: 5.20
Tread depth: 9/32
Load rating: 827 lbs

Specs for the newer D402 (MU85B16) rear tire used since 2004:
Overall Diameter: 25.71
Width: 5.51
Tread depth: 11/32
Load rating: 908 lbs

If you want the larger rear because of the “better” mileage ect. that HD claims you get from it but are not sure you want to mod your bike… maybe look at this tire from Dunlop.

Dunlop Elite 3 (Replaces the old 491Elite II)
Overall Diameter: 25.70
Width: 5.15
Tread depth: 10/32
Load rating: 830 lbs

Bolts right on your bike, no mods needed!

The Elite 3 has a different tread pattern and a hard rubber compound which is why it gets better “use” mileage, or so I have been told. I have not used this tire, I am using the spacer and running the MU85B. So far no trouble.

lilarlen

 

i'm on my second MU85 on my 2001 RK. i trimmed the guard enough to clear the tire and nothing else. the extra 2/32nds of tread adds a lot of mileage to the tire. about 15K average as opposed to 11 or 12K. about $100 delivered from american motocycle tire in colorado for blackwall.